Prelude to Destiny
by Gidget
Summary: Anakin's finally snapping, one person can still st


Setting:: Way post-TPM, somewhere in the Episode 2/3 area... 

Author's Notes:: This is not really a full storyline, just a vignette-type I came up with when pondering the role of Amidala during Anakin's fall... anyway, feedback's appreciated. :) 

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"Anakin! Stop!" 

Anakin whirled, the lightsaber's hum increasing with the sudden movement. He knew who it was an instant before he saw her. 

Amidala rushed up, immediately placing herself between Anakin and Obi-Wan, who was still unconscious. Her hair had broken free of the elaborate hairstyle she usually wore, and cascaded in chestnut waves down around her shoulders and back. She could feel her heart pounding loudly, so loudly in her ears, her breathing heavy from exertion. 

Anakin felt his attention focus on his diminutive wife. She refused to look away from his gaze, instead holding him in hers. Shaking her head, she spoke softly. "Anakin, what are you doing?" She fought to keep her emotions under control enough for her to think clearly. 

"Amidala, this is not your concern," Anakin said, his tone low and commanding. 

"The hell it is," she snapped back. Her vehemence momentarily shocked Anakin. This was not the type of reaction he was used to seeing in Amidala. 

"Don't you see it, Anakin? What you're becoming?" she tried again. 

His eyes narrowed. First Obi-Wan, now his wife, all coming to lecture him, to save him from himself. "You don't understand..." 

"Then explain it to me," replied Amidala, her arms coming up from her sides. "I-I don't know anything about you anymore." 

"Then why are you interfering!" Anakin exploded. The shadows in his mind grew deeper, whispering at the edges of his conscious. How could she turn against him! 

"Because, from what I could see, you were about to kill one of my, OUR dearest friends! What could possibly justify that?" She didn't need a Jedi's perception to feel the frustration and anger boiling out of Anakin. She was losing him even faster... She closed her eyes, feeling the tears filling her eyes. All of the stress, the sleeplessness, the exhaustion were all catching up to her at once. She could feel herself very near her breaking point... 

Anakin opened his mouth to explain, unable to find the right words. How could he possibly make her understand any of what was happening. "You just don't know..." he began. 

Her brown eyes had already filled with tears as she looked at him, looking small and lost. "You're right, Anakin," she said. "I wish I did, so badly, but I don't... but don't shut me out, Anakin, please..." She took a step toward him, her hand reaching hesitantly toward him. 

Anakin felt his grip tighten on the lightsaber handle. The thrumming sound increased briefly, then returned to its constant hum. She saw it, her eyes moving to the blade momentarily, then back up at Anakin. 

Behind her, Obi-Wan stirred, a hand reaching to the lump on his head from where it had been struck. Neither Anakin nor Amidala noticed him, though he was shocked to see the Queen. 

The brightness her Force presence emitted beckoned to Anakin, her pain calling out to him for comfort. He saw her reaction to the lightsaber and realized she was afraid. Of him. On one hand, the fact that even his own wife would fear him fed his twisted sense of power, but his stronger reaction was one of shock. Life as a Jedi apprentice had been difficult, and she had always been his bright spot throughout it all, the light he reached for when he needed it. That light was now driving back the darkness, putting it at bay. His grip on the saber loosened, and broke altogether. The handle clattered to the ground, the blade shutting down automatically. 

Amidala crossed the distance between them without hesitation, burying herself in Anakin's embrace. She cried softly into his shoulder, the only sound in the silence. 

Obi-Wan watched them from a distance, letting the reunion continue. The emotions coming from Anakin were filled with shock and bewilderment. Not at all repentant, but merely confused. Amidala had always been his weak spot, one of the only people who could reach him no matter what. But what if she hadn't come? A chill ran through Obi-Wan. She would not always be there, he could sense it. He was certain Anakin would never physically harm her, but a few months ago he had been certain his own Padawan would not hurt his Master. 

Next time he would face Anakin alone. 

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Comments to gidget@post.com and thanks for reading! 


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